


After the Corn Fest

by ShuTodoroki



Category: Cars (Pixar Movies), Planes (Movies)
Genre: Blade and Mayday are best friends, Blade has a sense of humor, Fluff, How Do I Tag, Lil' Dipper is thirsty for Dusty, M/M, Party, Skipper is an overprotective father figure, Takes place after Planes: Fire and Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:33:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27304183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShuTodoroki/pseuds/ShuTodoroki
Summary: After the Propwash Junction Corn Fest, everyone celebrates at Honkers. Blade mingles amongst the crowd, and has a revelation when it's all over.
Relationships: Blade Ranger/Skipper Riley, Dusty Crophopper/Blade Ranger, Dusty Crophopper/Skipper Riley
Kudos: 19





	After the Corn Fest

After the performance at the Propwash Junction Corn Fest, everyone filled Honkers to hang out for the night. It was a tight squeeze to fit planes like Windlifter and Cabbie inside, so the tables spilled into the courtyard outside, but since all of Propwash was in one area, it never seemed detached. 

Normally, Blade didn't like social events all that much (hence why he wasn't present at Cad's lodge party, among other reasons), but the town was charming, and he hadn't seen much outside Piston Peak ever since he started his job there. He and Dusty were opposite each other at a table amongst the other cars and planes that were there.

"I'm glad you and the rest of the team were able to perform at the Corn Fest. I know y'all are basically busy all year round…" Dusty said as he took a sip from his can of oil.

"It wasn't just the performance, Dusty. We got to see Propwash's reopening. I'm proud of you." Blade replied as he smiled slightly.

Dusty smiled back. "Thanks, Blade. Couldn't have done it without you." 

"I didn't teach you to take water from a waterfall, though. That was all you. Don't sell yourself short." 

"Heh, thanks. Again." 

"No problem. We'll miss you at Piston Peak. It's like you're part of the team."

Dusty looked a bit saddened. Since he had finished his training, he wouldn't be at Piston Peak as often. "I'll miss you guys too. When I'm between races, I'll try and visit."

"You're always welcome at Piston Peak. Hey, why don't you catch up with your friends? You haven't seen 'em in person for a while." 

"What about you?"

"I gotta catch up with Mayday too." 

"Oh, alright. I'll see you later." 

The two parted ways as Dusty headed over to Chug and Dottie, Chug still wearing his Corn Colonel hat, obviously proud of it. Blade headed over to where Mayday was, who looked like he was falling asleep.

"The party's too boring for you?" Blade joked as he approached his old friend.

"Ah, Blade, definitely not; it's just late. I usually sleep earlier than this." Mayday replied.

"I wish the team and I had that luxury at Piston Peak. Speaking of which, you never gave me a warning when you radioed about a trainee." He said, looking at Mayday with a slight smirk.

Mayday looked worried. "Dusty wasn't too much trouble to train, was he?" 

"Well, what I thought was his fault was his gearbox. I'm glad I found out when I did; I was under the impression that he was being lazy." 

"Oh, no. Dusty isn't that type of plane."

"Yeah, I know that now. Especially after what he did to save that couple at Augerin Canyon."

"I'm so proud of him." Mayday said before he yawned. "Excuse me…"

Blade laughed. "Mayday, go sleep if you're tired." 

"But we're celebrating the Corn Festival, and the reopening of Propwash." 

Blade's gaze shifted to one of the Smokejumpers, Drip, spinning on his roof to show off, impressing some onlookers, while Dynamite looked on with disdain. "If that's any indication, you aren't going to miss much." 

"I suppose you're right." Mayday agreed as he started to drive towards the exit from the table he was at. "Good night, Blade."

"Night, Mayday." Blade said as he watched Drip doing more tricks, mildly amused as he took a sip from a can of oil. 

"Ugh, tell him to knock it off. He'll have dents all over his roof tomorrow, and whine to me about fixing it." Maru complained as he pulled up next to Blade. 

"I figured Dynamite would've told him that by now." 

"Well, apparently she hasn't."

Blade rolled his eyes as he started to move towards Drip, but stopped when Drip righted himself. The Smokejumper must've seen him coming. 

"Heh, just havin' a little fun, Blade. Sorry."

"Oh, no, it's not me you have to worry about. It's Maru." Blade said as he looked at Maru with a slight smirk. 

Maru proceeded to accost Drip, while Blade gazed on with amusement. He was going to be content to watch that for the time being, until he heard Skipper, Dusty's mentor, coming up behind him. 

"Blade, right? Thank you for training Dusty and giving him his certification. I tried to talk him out of it, but he's a stubborn plane. In a good way, of course."

Blade turned around to meet Skipper's gaze when he talked to him, seeing the old war plane. "It's nothing. If anything, he taught me something by taking water from a waterfall."

"He does do that, doesn't he?"

"What do you mean?"

"He ends up teaching the mentor."

"Ah. I'm assuming he did that for you, as well." 

"Indeed. I don't know why I agreed to train him when he wanted to race, but I'm glad I did." 

"I could say the same. All I can say is that Dusty's a very versatile plane. Who knew a cropduster could be a racer, and then a firefighter?" 

"He's definitely very-" Skipper was interrupted when Sparky drove up to him, the forklift looking a bit frantic.

"You might want to help Dusty out. There's a yellow and red plane blatantly hitting on him."

Blade immediately knew who Sparky was talking about, as he looked over to where Dusty was. Dusty was obviously looking uncomfortable with Chug and Dottie as Dipper was talking to the air racer excitedly. He was too far away to tell what Dipper was saying, but he definitely had an idea as to what it was. 

Skipper looked over as well when Sparky gestured over to what he was talking about. He didn't seem to know what to make of the situation. "Oh. I see." He looked back at Blade with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Did she do this often at Piston Peak?" 

Blade laughed nervously. "Well, I hadn't been paying attention, but she did stay by Dusty's side for five days while he was unconscious, if that's any indication." 

"I'd definitely think that's more than an indication, yes…" Skipper said as he looked at Blade expectantly.

"…I'll go see what's going on. Excuse me." He meandered his way through various cars and planes, as he suddenly realized how much of a fire hazard this situation was, his firefighter side probably talking. Although that was definitely concerning, he focused back on his main task. 

He approached Dusty's table as Dusty saw Blade coming from his peripheral vision, looking at him with a relieved expression. Dipper didn't seem to notice, however, as she continued talking until Blade cleared his throat from behind her. That got her attention, as she turned around, recognizing Blade and looking at him cheerfully.

"Oh, hi Blade! Enjoying the party?" Dipper asked casually.

"Definitely. I see that you are, too, with Dusty." Blade replied with an amused smirk. 

Dusty looked mortified, as Dipper tried to laugh it off. "Nah, I'm hangin' with his friends too!" 

Blade was skeptical while Dottie rolled her eyes, obviously unamused. "…Right. Anyway, I'd be careful if I were you."

"Why?" 

Blade gestured to where Skipper and Sparky were with one of his wheels. Skipper was glaring at Dipper menacingly. 

Dipper quickly avoided Skipper's gaze as she smiled sheepishly at Dusty. "Is that your racing mentor?" 

"Yeah…" 

"Oh, cool. Yeah, very cool." She glanced back at Skipper, who was still glaring at her. "Does he glare at everyone?"

"Nope…"

"Heh…um…I'm gonna go see how Windlifter's doing." Dipper said as she turned around and headed towards the exit, where all of the outdoor tables were. 

Blade watched her leave as Skipper visibly followed her with his gaze. "I assume that she was mainly socializing with you, Dusty." 

"Yep. She's nice and all. It's just a little bit awkward when she tries to turn every time we hang out into a date." 

"Well, she _is_ your number one fan, right?" 

"You could put it that way." 

"More like a fanatic, if you ask me." Dottie quipped.

"She's a bit overenthusiastic in everything, I guess." Blade felt the need to change the subject, since they were basically talking about Dipper behind her back. "So, Corn Colonel, huh?" He remarked as he looked at Chug. "What does that mean?" 

"I get to be head of corn operations here! The welfare of the corn in the fields is in my tires." 

Oh. Well that was underwhelming. "That seems like a very important job…" Blade remarked, still trying to figure out why the fuel truck was so enthusiastic about taking care of corn. 

Dottie seemed to read the helicopter's mind when she explained the job. "Yep. Corn's our main industry here, so it's important that we have a plentiful supply to sell." 

"That's why Leadbottom thinks it's so prestigious to be a cropduster…" Dusty added.

"Is that the Vitaminamulch plane?" Blade asked, vaguely aware of who Leadbottom was.

"Oh, no. Did he try and sell some to you?" Dusty asked warily.

"Yeah, said something about improving the greenery around Piston Peak. The smell immediately turned me off, though." 

Dusty recoiled at even the mention of the smell. "Yeah, anyone with a working nose would definitely agree with you." 

"We have enough trees around anyway, as you know." 

"Agreed. It'd make the park barren of tourists, too."

"Considering the whole fiasco with the entrance being destroyed, I'm surprised that tourists still want to go to the park in the first place." 

"That was bad management by Cad Spinner. Besides, the park entrance looks better than new, as Maru would say." 

"Heh, you got that right. Probably the fact that we have Jammer as the superintendent now also helps." 

"From what I heard from Dusty, it was pretty bad at Piston Peak when Cad Spinner was around." Dottie remarked.

"Oh, you have no idea." Dusty started. "You want to tell 'em, Blade?" 

"Where do I start?" Blade joked. "Well, he took 80 percent of our budget for his lodge…" 

Blade continued recounting what happened with Cad Spinner, and then started telling Chug and Dottie about Dusty's training, filling in the details Dusty neglected to include (like when he got sprayed with fire retardant). The night was filled with chatter and laughter, as Blade spent the rest of the party getting to know Chug and Dottie. 

Soon, however, it was late enough that Honkers started to empty, and Blade entered one of the spare hangars Propwash had that he and his team would stay in before they'd fly back to Piston Peak tomorrow morning. He found himself a little happier ever since he met Dusty, a slight smile on his face as he fell asleep with the moonlight shining in through one of the hangar windows.


End file.
